Bonding rails



May 3,1927; v 1,627,352

G. E. THACKRAY A BONDING RAIL S Filed Ap1-i1 14. 1921 f bzvefelr .6J 1161 Ov @5f/O Patented May. 3, 1927.,

' r uNrrl-:n s'frair"ls. s YanTENT,onu-fica( Vanonan E. rmwmr, 'or' Was'rnon'r nonouemranusnvnm t roulante MILS.

' Application led April-14, 1921. Seri-a1 No.- 131,852.l

My invention relates to bonding rails, with .part1cular reference toa simple and easily lapplied type of flexible bond 4the terminals of which are fused orwelded to the upper surface of -the base flanges ofthe rails 1n order to provide a connection between, the ends of abuttingv rails 'which is .both .me-

chanically strong and electricallyy conductive to an .extent equal tothe capacity of the flexible bond. The flexible bond portion of my construction and the parts of the termi- 'nals to which itis 'attached are preferably located under the rail. flanges so that the bond is protected. from distortion or destruction by derailed cars, and as the ends of the terminals on the rail flanges are small and flat and withjbeveled e es'if necessary, will -not cause any obstruction to the pasby a derailed car. v

My invention also relates to the` method of applying "said bonds to the rails, and although I have shown and illustrated my terminals secured to the upper portions of the base flanges ofthe rails they may be secured to any .other ortions of the rails to which they'areapp icable, as will be readily understood. l

My bond consists of a pair of terminals each of which-is of hook form the upper portion beingl adapted to rest upon the upper surfaceof t e base flange of a rail, whilev the other end of the hook or clip is adapted to receive a flexible cable preferably 'formed from a number of strands` of copper wire or lamin'ae which are secured within the sockets` formed in the terminals either by compressing or by being forced therein, after whichl they may be brazed or soldered, or the ends of the cable may be fused 'to and within the terminals. Ifthe ends ofthe cable are fused or welded in the terminals only the end portions thereof should be sol secured and the other. portion of the bond connected with the part between the terminals should not be so fused, and the-edges of theholes in the terminals should be preferably rounded so that the weaving action of the rails due terminal-to cut the bond, andas the material ofthe flexible bond where it fissues from the terminal is in its original condition and sage of the wheels and can not' be 'destroyed to trailic would not cause the edges of'tle due to the movement of the rails wit-hout. bein'g' ldestroyed thereby. The terminalsv which are used are preferably made ofmalleable iron castings which resemble iron or steel and which are of metal somewhat similar to the rails which they connect and lcan therefore bex/easily secure thereto by fusion or welding either by electric pencils and arc or by acetylene and oxygen or other blowpipe flames. In' certain cases, however, I mayv make my terminals of iron, steel, bronze, brass, copper or other metal as will be readily understood. My terminals are preferabl formed with holes or notches therein, t e edges of which are adapted to form part of the joint and to neatly receive additional fusing metal and make a neat job of connecting them to the rails, although I may, if desired, use some fused metal aroundv the other edges of my terminal to make a more secure connection, but -this ordinarily is not needed, I also prefer to so locate and arrange m l bonds that the flexible portion lis normal y slack or curvedbetween the terminals to allow for thev expansion and contraction of then rails and for. the relative movement of the'v rail ends'by traic in sucha way that the bonds will not be, harmed annmanner by` such movement. y

prior cases where bonds are not flex` lible and are secured toabutting rail ends therelative movement lof the rails causes v their constant lexure and subjectionQto un'- due stresses so that the would, in a measure, try to serve as sp ice bars -at the rail joints, to which use, however, such 'structures are not at all adapted, and this would result in'their relatively which is bond. s

Another -advantage of my bond formed andapplied iii-(this way is due to the fact that the contact of the terminal with the rail is localized and the material of the bond terminal is 'comparatively strong so that uick destruction, all of lwhen. it is desired tov remove the bonds from the rail this can be done bi striking the terminal v,with a' hammer .ory. placing a fiatnosed tool against the bond` and can be used elsewhere. This/1s particularly Obviated vby my type of flexible lool y hltting it with a hammer or sledgenwhemupon' the .'los

convenient in mines or in cases where the- I rails of the track have to be taken up and replaced elsewhere. v

The lower portion of m 'bond terminal may be spaced apart from't e bottom of the' rail flange and the terminal may be held in place while being connected by a-pair of pliers, a spring clip or a wooden or metal wedge driven between it and the rail, or by customary clamps. Havingtthus given. a general description of my invention, I will now, in order to make the matter more clear, refer to the accompanying sheet of drawings forming part of this specification 'in which like characters of reference refer to like parts E;

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the meeting ends'of a pair of rails united by an angle splice bar and bolts with the ends of the lower flange of the angle splice bar cut away, to form recesses exposing the upper surfaces of the rail flange,with one form of my impoved bond shown in place connecting the ends of the rails. This form is desirable when a comparatively short and economical bond is wanted, as the portions of the splice bar which are to form recesses cut away do not detract'from'its strength, while the fiexib'le cable of the bond is shorter and consequently cheaper. Figure 2 is a vertical transverse sectional elevation taken on the line lll-II of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a side elevation of the meeting ends of a pair of rails united by angle splice bars and bolts similar to -Figure 1, but without the ends of the lower flange of the angle splice bar cut away,'with my improved bond is shown in place connecting the ends of the rails. .This

type f bond is' longer than the one illustrated in Figure 1 and is designed for use with angle splice bars the ends of the flanges of which are not cut away, this bond, however, being somewhat longer and heavier and consequently more expensive than the one illustrated-in Figure 1.' Figure'e is a vertical transverse sectional elevation taken on the line IV-IV of Figure 3. Figure 5 is a side elevation. of the meeting ends of a pair of rails united by plain splice bars or ,fish plates with a very short bond shown in placeconnecting the ends of the rails. This bond is a very short and consequently inexpensive type of construction, and as illustrated is flexed between terminals so as to allow for contraction and expansion of the rails and slight. `movement thereof without effecting the bond for reasons previously stated herein. Figure 6 is avertical transverse sectional elevation taken on the line VI-VI of Figure 5. Figure 7 is a bottom plan view of the meeting ends of the rails showing the bond illustrated in Figures 5 and 6 in place thereon. Figures 8, 9, 10, 11,

12, 13, 14 and 15 illustrate slightly different forms of my terminals and ways of attaching them to the flanges of the rails. Fi ure 16 illustrates two different ways of'hoi ing the bond terminal to vtile flange of the rail while fusingor other lse securing the terminal to the base angeof the rail. In this view the' extreme end of the rail has been cut away so .as not to hide the wedge and the lower part of the terminal and cable. Figures 17 and18 illustrate on a larger scale two ydifferent ways of forming the fused or other connection between the flange of the rail and the bond terminal.

Referring now to the various characters of reference on the drawings: 1 is the end of one rail, 2 the end of the adjacent rail, 3

are the rail flanges, t and 5 are the anglev nal and the rail and this yis preferably introduced in the form of an electric pencil which pencil may be of soft steel or iron or other metal through which a current of electricity is passed in the usual manner and which fuses the pencil, but at the same time slightly fuses the surface of the rail and the terminal adjacent thereto and provides a strong mechanical and electrical union of these two portions. This, as previously explained. may also be accomplished by acetylene or other blow-pipe flame either with or without a'dded metal.

The bonding material is fused into a hole or notch in one member of the terminal which contacts with the rail so that the 'terminal is electrically secured to the rail in a substantially integral manner and by reason of so fusingthe bonding material in the hole or notch, which 1s relatively smaller than the member in which it is formed, the fused material has a'less area of cross section in the plane of contact with the' rail-than'the member `of the terminal itself, whereby a forcible movement `of the terminal in said plane, as A'elsewhere describe-d herein, will shear the bonding or fused material without harming or distorting the terminal, which when cleaned or partially cleaned of the remnant of fused material, can be used again.

The removal of the terminal can thus be easily and simply accomplished although the electric bond between the vparts is good and sufficient when the terminal, is secured in place by the fused metal in the notch or opening thereof.

The fused material being placed in the `hole or notch of the terminal is thus conias the bond cable, preferably formed of copper wires twisted together or it may be of copper or other laminae `of good conducting material, and the terminals are provided witli openings 11 in which the ends of the cable aresecured in any of the manners previously described. 12 are the angle splice bars illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, 13 are the splice bolts therefor and 14 are the bond terminals illustrated in Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 16, 17 and 18 in which the upper portion of the terminal engagesx with and is adjacent to the top of the rail fiange while the lower portion ofthe terminal is provided with a space 15 between it and the bottom of the base flange. 16 are plain splice bars or fish plates illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, 17 is the bond cable shown 1n Figures 5 and 7, 18 are the splice bolts shown in Figures 5 and 6, and 19 is the upper portion of the bond terminal illustrated in Figure 9.

Referring to Figures 8 to 15 inclusive,l

14, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29 and 31 are the upper portions of the bond terminal which are respectively provided with circular hole 9, the rectangular hole v20, the open-ended rectangular notch 22, the corner rectangular notch 24, the corner quarter-circle shaped notch 26, the two circular holes 28, the two corner notches with rounded corners 3() and the two approximately semi-circular notches 32, and the terminal metal forming the walls or part of the walls of each of the holes or notches may be fused as before described together with the adjacent portions of the rail surface with or without added metal, whereby the terminal is secured to the rail in an efficient manner both mechanically and electrically.

As illustrated in Figure 18 the opening which is preferably made, of tapering 'form is not filled with added metal, but the edges 33 of the terminal may be fused to and wlth a portion of the rail flange without adding any metal, although generallyT I prefer to add metal as before described.

Referring nowto Figure 16 the terminal 14 may be held in position prior to and while securing the same to the rail by means of a wedge 34 which may be .of metal or wood, driven between the base of the rail flange` and the lower part of the terminal hook as illustrated, or it may be held in place by the spring clip 35. In addition to securing the bond terminall to the rail through the notches or openings therein I may also secure the edges of the upper portion of the terminal itself as indicated at 37l upper portion of my hook terminal, and Y when struck by a hammer or sledge this will shear off the fused connecting metal in the notch 26, and as the terminals are made of strong material and of ample size, the terminals themselves will not be distorted, but the bond may thereby be easily removed from the rail. After this is done the fused metal may be cut out of the notch and the band used again elsewhere.

Although I have described and illustrated my invention in considerable detail, I do not wishto be limited tothe exact and specific details thereof as shown and described, but may use such modifications in, substitutions for, or equivalents thereof, as are embraced `within the scope Vof my invention, or as pointed out in the claim. t

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat- In a rail bond, a terminal of open hook form, one part or the upper portion of the hook of which is adapted to rest upon the upper surface of a rail flange, the other and lower portion of the hook being adapted to underlie the said rail flange and out'of contact therewith, an opening or notch in the upper hook member of said terminal of less cross sectional area than that\of said member inthe plane of contact between it andthe rail; metal of composition similar to that of said terminal and the rail deposited in a fused condition in saidnotch or opening while the adjacent metal of the terminal and rail are partially fused or heated, thereby securing the terminal to the rail, and a flexible cable electrically and mechanically secured within the lower portion `of said hook-formed terminal.

In Vwitness whereof I hereunto affix my signature. Y

GEORGE E. TI-IACKRAY. 

